Controversial veteran arms himself in video set in D.C.

WASHINGTON – An Iraq war veteran known for his controversial activism has released an unsettling video set in D.C.

In the 22-second YouTube video, former Marine Adam Kokesh is standing in an empty Freedom Plaza loading a shotgun. The video is dated July 4, 2013.

Officers responded to Freedom Plaza and Kokesh was not there, says U.S. Parks Police spokesperson Sgt. Paul Brooks.

“We are aware of the situation and are prepared to deal with him if he shows up again,” Brooks says.

D.C. police issued this joint statement with the U.S. Park Police:

“The Metropolitan Police Department and U.S. Park Police are aware that today Adam Kokesh posted a video that appears to have been taken in Freedom Plaza in Northwest, D.C. We are in the process of determining the authenticity of the video,” the release says.

Kokesh planned and then canceled an armed march on Washington scheduled for July 4, 2013. Participants in the non-violent event, called the Open Carry March on Washington, were supposed to be armed with rifles.

The purpose of the march was to “put the government on notice that we will not be intimidated and cower in submission to tyranny,” Kokesh said of the event on his website.

The meaning behind the July 4th video shot on Freedom Plaza is unclear to police, but it ends dramatically as Kokesh loads the gun and says, “We are the final American Revolution.”

See the video here:

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